This article is about the umbrella term yoga which includes religion, philosophy, and practices. For one of the six Hindu philosophy schools, see Rja yoga. For the popular yoga that explains and emphasizes the physical practices or disciplines, see Hatha Yoga. For other uses, see Yoga (disambiguation).

Yoga (//; Sanskrit: , Listen) is a physical, mental, and spiritual practice or discipline that denotes a variety of schools, practices and goals in Hinduism, Buddhism (including Vajrayana and Tibetan Buddhism[2][3][4]) and Jainism,[5][6][7][6] the best-known being Hatha yoga and Raja yoga.

The origins of Yoga have been speculated to date back to pre-Vedic Indian traditions, but most likely developed around the sixth and fifth centuries BCE, in ancient India's ascetic circles, which are also credited with the early sramana movements.[note 1] The chronology of earliest texts describing yoga-practices is unclear, varyingly credited to Hindu Upanishads[9] and Buddhist Pli Canon,[10] probably of third century BCE or later. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali from first half of 1st millennium CE is one of a key surviving major texts on Yoga.[11][12]Hatha yoga texts emerged around 11th century CE, and in its origins was related to Tantrism.[13][14]

Yoga gurus from India later introduced yoga to the west, following the success of Swami Vivekananda in the late 19th and early 20th century. In the 1980s, yoga became popular as a system of physical exercise across the Western world.[14] Yoga in Indian traditions, however, is more than physical exercise, it has a meditative and spiritual core.[16] One of the six major orthodox schools of Hinduism is also called Yoga, which has its own epistemology and metaphysics, and is closely related to Hindu Samkhya philosophy.[17]

Many studies have tried to determine the effectiveness of yoga as a complementary intervention for cancer, schizophrenia, asthma, and heart disease. The results of these studies[18][19] have been mixed and inconclusive, with cancer studies suggesting none to unclear effectiveness, and others suggesting yoga may reduce risk factors and aid in a patient's psychological healing process.

In Vedic Sanskrit, the more commonly used, literal meaning of the Sanskrit word yoga which is "to add", "to join", "to unite", or "to attach" from the root yuj, already had a much more figurative sense, where the yoking or harnessing of oxen or horses takes on broader meanings such as "employment, use, application, performance" (compare the figurative uses of "to harness" as in "to put something to some use"). All further developments of the sense of this word are post-Vedic. More prosaic moods such as "exertion", "endeavour", "zeal", and "diligence" are also found in Epic Sanskrit.[20]

There are very many compound words containing yog in Sanskrit. Yoga can take on meanings such as "connection", "contact", "method", "application", "addition", and "performance". In simpler words, Yoga also means "combined". For example, gu-yoga means "contact with a cord"; chakr-yoga has a medical sense of "applying a splint or similar instrument by means of pulleys (in case of dislocation of the thigh)"; chandr-yoga has the astronomical sense of "conjunction of the moon with a constellation"; pu-yoga is a grammatical term expressing "connection or relation with a man", etc. Thus, bhakti-yoga means "devoted attachment" in the monotheistic Bhakti movement. The term kriy-yoga has a grammatical sense, meaning "connection with a verb". But the same compound is also given a technical meaning in the Yoga Sutras (2.1), designating the "practical" aspects of the philosophy, i.e. the "union with the Supreme" due to performance of duties in everyday life[21]

According to Pini, a 6th-century BCE Sanskrit grammarian, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samdhau (to concentrate).[22] In the context of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the root yuj samdhau (to concentrate) is considered by traditional commentators as the correct etymology.[23] In accordance with Pini, Vyasa who wrote the first commentary on the Yoga Sutras,[24] states that yoga means samdhi (concentration).[25]

According to Dasgupta, the term yoga can be derived from either of two roots, yujir yoga (to yoke) or yuj samdhau (to concentrate).[22] Someone who practices yoga or follows the yoga philosophy with a high level of commitment is called a yogi (may be applied to a male or a female) or yogini (traditionally denoting a female).[26]

The ultimate goal of Yoga is moksha (liberation) though the exact definition of what form this takes depends on the philosophical or theological system with which it is conjugated.

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